Adding APM Insight Python agent in Kubernetes via InitContainers

Adding the APM Insight Python agent via init containers in Kubernetes enables the seamless integration of performance monitoring for Python applications, ensuring efficient tracking and analysis of application behavior within the Kubernetes environment.

Please follow the steps below to achieve this:

1. Create a secret for the Applications Manager license key in your application namespace.

   Note: You can obtain the license key from your Applications Manager by navigating to APM tab → Add Monitor → License Key → Copy License Key.

   Example:

   kubectl create secret generic app-secret 
   --from-literal=s247licensekey='<Your_ApplicationsManager_license_key>' 
   -n pythonapp

   Replace app-secret, <Your_ApplicationsManager_license_key>, and pythonapp (namespace) with the appropriate values.

2. Create an empty volume that will be used to copy the agent files during the init containers process.

   Example:

   volumes:
     - name: s247agent

3. Include the following init containers command in your Helm chart or deployment YAML file.

   Example:

   initContainers:
     - name: agent-copy
       image: site24x7/apminsight-pythonagent:latest
       imagePullPolicy: IfNotPresent
       command: ['cp', '-r', '/opt/site24x7/.', '/home/apm']
       volumeMounts:
         - name: s247agent
           mountPath: /home/apm
   

4. Mount the volume created in Step 2 into your application container.

   Example:

   containers:
     - name: pythonapp
       image: pythonapp:latest
       imagePullPolicy: IfNotPresent
       ports:
         - containerPort: 8080
       volumeMounts:
         - name: s247agent
           mountPath: /home/apm
   

5. Add the following environment variables to the application container:
   • Environment Variable 1
     • Name:S247_LICENSE_KEY
     • Value: Enter the s247licensekey from the secret added in Step 1.
   • Environment Variable 2
     • Name:APM_HOST
     • Value: Provide the hostname of Applications Manager.
   • Environment Variable 3
     • Name:APM_PORT
     • Value: Provide the SSL port number of Applications Manager.
   • Environment Variable 4
     • Name:APP_RUN_COMMAND
     • Value: Provide your application startup command.
   • Environment Variable 5
     • Name:APM_APP_NAME
     • Value: Configure the name of the Python application that will be displayed in the Applications Manager UI.
   • Environment Variable 6
     • Name:APP_ENV_PATH
     • Value: If you are using a virtual environment, specify the path of the environment bin directory.

   Note: In this step, we configure the application (Python process) startup command as an argument so that the agent will send data to the specified monitor name.

   Example: Here is an example of a Python application running in a Gunicorn environment on port 8080 with two worker processes.

   env:
     - name: APP_RUN_COMMAND
       value: "gunicorn --bind 127.0.0.1:8080 -w 2 pythonapp_main:app"
     - name: APM_HOST
       value: "apmhost1"
     - name: APM_PORT
       value: "8443"
     - name: APM_APP_NAME
       value: "Python-application"
     - name: S247_LICENSE_KEY
       valueFrom:
         secretKeyRef:
           name: pythonapp-secrets
           key: s247_license_key

6. Change your application container startup command to the Python agent startup script.

   Note: The script agent_start.sh will start your Python application with the APM Python agent using the command provided in APP_RUN_COMMAND

   containers:
     - name: pythonapp
       image: pythonapp:latest
       imagePullPolicy: IfNotPresent
       command: ["/bin/sh", "-c", "/home/apm/agent_start.sh"]
       ports:
         - containerPort: 8080
       volumeMounts:
         - name: s247agent
           mountPath: /home/apm

Sample Kubernetes Deployment YAML

apiVersion: v1
kind: Namespace
metadata:
  name: pythonapp
---
apiVersion: v1
kind: Secret
type: Opaque
metadata:
  name: pythonapp-secrets
data:
  s247licensekey: aaaaaabbbbbbccccccddddddeeeeee
---
apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
  name: pythonapp-deployment
  namespace: pythonapp
  labels:
    app: flask
spec:
  replicas: 1
  selector:
    matchLabels:
      name: pythonapp-deployment
  template:
    metadata:
      labels:
        name: pythonapp-deployment
    spec:
      containers:
        - name: pythonapp-deployment
          image: pythonapp:version1
          command: ["/bin/sh", "-c", "/home/apm/agent_start.sh"]
          imagePullPolicy: Always
          ports:
            - containerPort: 5000
          env:
            - name: APP_RUN_COMMAND
              value: "gunicorn --bind 127.0.0.1:8080 -w 2 pythonapp_main:app"
            - name: APM_HOST
              value: "apmhost1"
            - name: APM_PORT
              value: "8443"
            - name: APM_APP_NAME
              value: "Python-application"
            - name: S247_LICENSE_KEY
              valueFrom:
                secretKeyRef:
                  name: pythonapp-secret
                  key: s247licensekey
          volumeMounts:
            - mountPath: /home/apm
              name: s247agent
      initContainers:
        - name: agent-copy-init
          image: site24x7/apminsight-pythonagent:latest
          command: ["cp","-r","/opt/site24x7/.","/home/apm"]
          imagePullPolicy: Always
          volumeMounts:
            - mountPath: /home/apm
              name: s247agent
      volumes:
        - name: s247agent
      restartPolicy: Always
---
apiVersion: v1
kind: Service
metadata:
  name: pythonapp-deployment
spec:
  type: NodePort
  selector:
    app: flask
  ports:
    - protocol: TCP
      port: 5000
      targetPort: 5000
      nodePort: 30200